Well packer



G. H. TAUSCH Nov. 8, 1966 WELL PACKER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 2, 1964 I N VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY G. H. TAUSCH Nov. 8, 1966 WELL PACKER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 2, 1964 INVENTOR. BY WW7 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,283,819 WELL PACKER Gilbert H. Tausch, Houston, Tex., assignor to Camco, Incorporated, Houston, Tex., a corporation of Texas Filed Jan. 2, 1964, Ser. No. 335,171 3 Claims. (Cl. 166-120) This invention relates to an improved well packer of the type having hydraulically actuated parts within a fluid passage which extends between surrounding annulus space above and below a deformable packing and more particularly to a valving arrangement for excluding well fluid circulation through the passage prior to a packer setting operation.

An object of the invention is to better insure certainty of response of hydraulically actuated parts and a free opening for fluid transmission through a relatively small passage in the packer assembly and by precluding fluid flow through the small passage while the released packer assembly is being run within the well bore to a selected depth at which hydraulic actuation is to be effected.

A further object is to provide a closure at the lead end of the small flow passage which prior to being opened upon packer setting manipulation serves to block the passage against fluid flow so as to avoid likelihood of passageway restriction and clogging resulting from entrance and deposit of debris or heavy matter entrained in well fluid.

Another object of the invention is to provide a slide valve and a chamber therefor between interfitted end portions of a pair of packing abutment tubular members for initially blocking the path to a flow passage internally of one of the tubular members and from a side wall opening through the other tubular member and for valve travel out of flow path blocking position upon relative telescopic retraction of the members.

Other objects and advantages will become evident in the course of the following specification having reference to the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is an elevation partly in section of a packer assembly set within a well casing;

FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C are companion views on a larger scale of the packer assembly showing the parts in packer contracted relation and partly in vertical section and partly in elevation; and

FIG. 3 is a vertical section of a fragment of the packer assembly showing the valve open position in packet set relation.

In FIG. 1 of the drawing, a well packer assembly in set position is shown within a well bore liner or tubular casing 1. The packer assembly includes a well tubing section or mandrel 2 having connections at opposite ends with adjoining ends of other sections 3-3 of a production tubing string. Near its lower end, the tubing mandrel 2 has sleeved on and welded thereto a tubular wall 4 containing a pair of diametrically opposite J-slots 5. Within the annular space between the tubular casing 1 and tubular mandrel 2 are the packer components or subassemblies sleeved on the tubing mandrel 2 and comprised, in end to end succession, of a lower slip cage 6, a packer abutment and slip expander tube 7, a packing collar 8 of rubber or other elastic deformable material and a packer abutment and tubular mandrel or body 9 whose upper end includes a socket for reception of a force transmitting head and closure plug 10 screw threaded on the upper end of the tubing mandrel 2. As illustrated, the plug 10 is a coupling collar for top and attachment of the packer assembly in a tubing string.

The mandrel coupling head and socket closure plug 10 has a dependent skirt portion 11 of slightly greater internal diameter than the outside diameter of the man- 3,283,819 Patented Nov. 8, 1966 drel 2, for providing a fluid passageway 12 leading from the skirt bottom to the area behind one or more radially projectable latch dogs 13 fitted and peripherally sealed within openings through the skirt. Each dog in its outer face has an upwardly facing and inclined shoulder 14 and a re-entrant recess at its lower corner. Fitted in the corner recess is the upper end of a retainer ring 15 to resist drop-out of the dog and to hold the dog against rotation so the shoulder 14 remains in an upwardly and inwardly inclined plane. The bottom portion of the skirt 11 is of reduced diameter below a downwardly facing abutment shoulder 16 and has an annular groove in which a pliable seal ring 17 is located.

When the assembly is in packer setting relation, as seen in FIG. 1, the seal ring 17 is in bearing engagement with a complementary cylindrical surface in the counterbored upper end portion of the body 9 which also has an upwardly facing shoulder against which is seated the shoulder 16 of the mandrel head. Also, an annular internal keeper groove 18, as best seen in FIG. 2B, will be aligned with the lower half of the latch dog whose inclined shoulder 14 when the dog is projected outwardly will be below and in latching relationship with the downwardly facing shoulder 19 at the top of the keeper groove 18.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 2B and 20, it will be noted that the tubular body 9 below its counterbored upper end is annularly spaced from the periphery of the tubing mandrel 2 to provide a passageway or bypass 20 from top to bottom of the body 9 and across the packing collar 8. Conveniently, the body is made up of separately formed sections in end to end relation. One of such sections is a relatively thin wall tube 21 which projects through the deformable packing collar 8 and is screw threaded into an adjoining upper and thicker wall section 22 which, either directly or through a deformable metal ring 23, engages the upper end of the packing collar. The section 22 houses a number of radially projectable pistons 24 whose outer faces carry upwardly facing wickers for engagement with the well casing 1 as hydraulically actuated hold-down devices. Bellville springs 25 are interposed between the slips 24 and retainer straps 26 which bridge the outer faces of the slips, and the springs bias the slips inwardly but yield to outwardly active fluid pressures within the by-pass 20 in excess of forces acting inwardly.

The lower end of the packing collar 8 engages a deformable metal ring 27 bearing 011 and forming a facing for an abutment ring 28 on the upper end of the expander tube 7. This upper end portion of the expander tube 7 telescopically receives the lower end portion of the packing .mandrel tube 21 which terminates downwardly in an outwardly projecting boss or annular flange 29 for pickup engagement with the overhanging portion of the abutment ring 28. At its lower end the expander tube 7 terminates in a downwardly tapered or conical portion for outward wedging engagement behind a series of segmental slips 30 having downwardly facing wickers and being located retentively within windows in the cage 6. Below each slip 30 and pocketed in the cage windowis an outwardly biased friction block or drag shoe 31. Such outward bias is provided by one or more coil springs 32 pocketed against the inner face of the block 31 and at least one of the springs bears inwardly against a dependent tang 33 of the adjoining slip 30 for yieldably retracting the slip. The slip tangs 33 and the remaining coil springs bottom inwardly on an upstanding wall of a closure collar 34 fitted within the outer cage wall 6 and secured thereto as by means of screw studs 35.

A pair of diametrically opposite counterbored holes in the collar 34 are overlaid by the lower portion of the cage 6 and house headed pins 36 which project inwardly for clutching engagement within the I -slots 5. When the pins are in the short legs of the J-slots, the packer components, other than the friction block, are retained in contracted relationship. Manipulation of the tubing string to turn the longer legs of the J-slots into alignment with the clutch pins 36 permits the tubing to be lowered relative to the exterior packing members, whose downward travel is then resisted by the friction blocks 31.

Interposed between the upper end of the tubular wall 4 and the bottom flange 29 of the packer mandrel tube 21 is a thrust distributing ring 37. Its internal face has a close fit on the tubing mandrel 2 and is sealed by a suitable O-ring. At its upper end the ring 37 has a lateral bearing flange 38 for upward abutment with the underside of the mandrel flange 29 and the flange abutting top surface carries one or more radial grooves thereacross in lateral continuation of the by-pass 20 for its communication with the upper end of the annular chamber space 44 enclosed within the upper end of the expander tube 7.

Slidably mounted within this chamber space and filling the same below the ring flange 38 is a slide ring or annular piston valve 39 carrying inner and outer O-ring bearing seals and partitioning the chamber space 44 above the valving ring 39 from the chamber space 44a therebelow. In the initial and running-in position of the parts, the ring 39 is positioned, as seen in FIG. 2C, in closing relation to the bottom of the by-pass 20 and above a fluid entry port 40 in the side wall of the expander tube 7. For holding the ring 39 in path blocking relation between the entry port 40 and the bottom of the internal by-pass 20 across the packer, the ring 39 is formed with one or more dependent collet legs or outwardly biased spring detents 41 fitted to an internal annular keeper groove 42 in the expander tube 7. A similar keeper groove 43 is axially spaced below the groove 42 for reception of the detents 41 when the ring 39 is slid downwardly to a position below the side port 40, as seen in FIG. 3. Such downward displacement of the slide valve ring 39 will occur when the lower portion 21 of the packer mandrel 9 telescopes downwardly within the top of the expander tube 7 incident to a packer setting operation.

When the slide valve ring 39 is effective to close the bottom of the by-pass 20 in the position of the parts shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C and with the tubing mandrel 2 projected to its upper limit, the upper end of the bypass is open to surrounding annulus space and the packer assembly can be lowered in a well casing through well fluid without the fluid being able to circulate through the bypass. There is thus excluded from flow within the bypass, any matter which may be contained in the well fluid such as could restrict or clog the by-pass flow space. Therefore, the by-pass will remain clear and open for subsequent effective operation. That operation occurs when the tubing mandrel 2 is lowered relative to the exterior packer parts, and in the initial part of the range of mandrel travel before setting the bottom slips and expanding the deformable packing collar. In that short in- :terval the slide valve ring 39 will have been displaced downwardly to the position shown in FIG. 3 and allow well fluid to move through the side port lil into the chamber space 44 above the valve and enter the by-pass 20. Continued mandrel down travel then quickly sets the packing collar and with the skirt II plugging the upper end of the by-pass, the pressure of fluid below the expanded packing collar if in excess of annulus pressure above the packing collar will expand the upper hold-down slips 24 and the latch dogs 13. Pressure differentials across the packing collar can be obtained by control of pressure in the open ended tubing string for hydraulic actuation of the hold-down slips and latch dogs.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that there has been provided an improved by-pass valving arrangement for hydraulically actuated elements and which valving functions in advance of hydraulic actuation to maintain the lay-pass clear of obstruction or submergence in well d fluid for more effective operation when actuation is required. Modifications of the detail arrangement can readily be made without departure from the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a well packing assembly, a packer collar, a force applying tubular member projecting the packing collar and having a packing collar by-pass internally thereof, a packing collar abutting tubular member including casing engageable slip means and having an upper end portion sleeved on and telescopically receiving the lower end portion of the first mentioned tubular member, a by-pass communicating annular chamber within the second mentioned tubular member, a slide ring seal mounted in said chamber, means transmitting telescoping vmovement of the first mentioned tubular member to shift said slide ring seal downwardly in the chamber from an upper position to a lower position, said second mentioned tubular member having a side wall port located below the upper position of said slide ring seal and above the lower position of said slide ring seal, a dependent spring detent carried by the slide ring seal and bearing outwardly on the second mentioned tubular member and said second mentioned tubular member having a pair of axially spaced apart detent receiving intern-a1 keeper grooves to locate the slide ring seal in its respective upper and lower positions.

2. In a well packer assembly,

a tubular member,

a deformable packing collar embracing said member between its opposite ends,

casing engageable slip means including a tubular stop abutment engageable with one end of the packing collar and slidably receiving an adjacent end portion of said tubular member,

a force transmitting abutment on the tubular member bearing on the opposite end of said packing collar,

a tubing string mandrel slidably extended through said tubular member with clearance space therebetween affording a bypass longitudinally through the packing col ar,

a formation on said mandrel movable therewith into bypass closing and force transmitting engagement with the other end portion of said tubular member,

valve means initially positioned in bypass closing relation at the first mentioned end portion of said tubular member .and shiftable to an open position in response to member movement to packer setting relation, and

said valve means including port means through the wall of said tubular stop abutment,

a ring slidably fitted to the interior of said tubular stop abutment for movement with packer setting movement of said tubular member, and slidable from an initial position closing said port means from said bypass to a second position in which the port means communicates with the bypass, and tubular stop abut ment and slide ring having cooperating interlocking formations yieldably locating the slide ring in its initial position and comprising a spring detent and a detent keeper pocket, and

hydraulically actuated hold-down means mounted by said tubular member above the packer collar and inwardly exposed within the bypass for pressure fluid action thereon.

3. In a well packer'assembly having .a packing collar and a bypass longitudinally through the packing collar and being characterized by,

valve means which closes the lower end of thebypass while the packing collar is contracted and opens the bypass when the packing collar is set,

said valve means including a pair of packing collar engageable tubular members arranged in end to end relation and telescoped at their adjoining end portions one within the other and movable toward one another in a packer setting operation,

said adjoining end portions having regions thereof radially spaced apart and providing a bypass communicating chamber, the outermost of said tubular members including casing engageable slip means and having a port axially spaced from one end of the cham her, and

a slide valve slid-able within the chamber between alternate positions on opposide sides of said port and arranged for movement with the innermost tubular member from bypass closing position on one side of said port to a bypassopening position on the other side of said port,

said slide valve having a dependent spring detent and the outermost member having a pair of axially spaced apart keepers alternately engaged by said detent for yieldable retention of the slide valve in its alternate positions respectively.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS CHARLES E. OCONNELL, Primary Examiner.

D. H. BROWN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A WELL PACKING ASSEMBLY, A PACKER COLLAR, A FORCE APPLYING TUBULAR MEMBER PROJECTING THE PACKING COLLAR AND HAVING A PACKING COLLAR BY-PASS INTERNALLY THEREOF, A PACKING COLLAR ABUTTING TUBULAR MEMBER INCLUDING CASING ENGAGEABLE SLIP MEANS AND HAVING AN UPPER END PORTION SLEEVED ON SAID TELESCOPICALLY RECEIVING THE LOWER END PORTION OF THE FIRST MENTIONED TUBULAR MEMBER, A BY-PASS COMMUNICATING ANNULAR CHAMBER WITHIN THE SECOND MENTIONED TUBULAR MEMBER, A SLIDE RING SEAL MOUNTED IN SAID CHAMBER, MEANS TRANSMITTING TELESCOPING MOVEMENT OF THE FIRST MENTIONED TUBULAR MEMBER TO SHIFT SAID SLIDE RING SEAL DOWNWARDLY IN THE CHAMBER FROM AN UPPER POSITION TO A LOWER POSITION, SAID SECOND MENTIONED TUBULAR MEMBER HAVING A SIDE WALL PORT LOCATED BELOW THE UPPER POSITION OF SAID SLIDE RING SEAL AND ABOVE THE LOWER POSITION OF SAID SLIDE RING SEAL, A DEPENDENT SPRING DETENT CARRIED BY THE SLIDE RING SEAL AND BEARING OUTWARDLY ON THE SECOND MENTIONED TUBULAR MEMBER AND SAID SECOND MENTIONED TUBULAR MEMBER HAVING A PAIR OF AXIALLY SPACED APART DETENT RECEIVING INTERNAL KEEPER GROOVES TO LOCATE THE SLIDE RING SEAL IN ITS RESPECTIVE UPPER AND LOWER POSITIONS. 